KNIGHTHAWKS DOWNED BY MAMMOTH

Apr 15, 2017

(April 15, 2017)… The Rochester Knighthawks rallied late in the second half, but were downed 13-7 by the Colorado Mammoth tonight at Pepsi Center.

Rochester used a solid second half to clip away at the Colorado lead, scoring six times. The best stretch of the game for the Knighthawks was early in the fourth quarter when they netted consecutive goals from Torrey VanEvery, Cory Vitarelli and Joe Resetarits.

Rochester outshot the Mammoth 52-45, peppering Colorado goalie Dillon Ward with 33 of those shots over the final 30 minutes. The team’s resiliency was one of the positives to take away from Saturday’s game.

“The one good thing is we didn’t pack it in and we kept pushing the best we could,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. “But we dug ourselves too deep a hole.”

Vitarelli finished with a team-high four points (1+3), while VanEvery netted a pair of goals in his pro debut. At 1:26 of the first quarter, VanEvery scored on his first shift and on his first shot.

“It’s like a dream come true,” he said, while holding his first goal ball. “I worked hard to get here. Now, I am here and I am going to work hard to do what I can to help the team.”

The Knighthawks also received one-goal, one-assist efforts from Resetarits, Kyle Jackson, Quinn Powless and Dan Dawson. Angus Goodleaf finished with 19 saves in a relief appearance and held Colorado scoreless for 15 minutes over the final two quarters.

Jordan Dance made his professional debut and played a gritty game indicative of his father, Kevin, who played for the Knighthawks from 1998-2000. Jordan joined Kevin as the first father-son duo to play for the Knighthawks.

Rochester (5-10) remains alive in the playoff hunt, sitting two and a half games back of New England (8-8) with three to play. That sets up a must-win game against the Black Wolves on Saturday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Connors & Ferris Field at The Blue Cross Arena.

“It’s nothing but head and heart that is going to give us an opportunity to win,” said Hasen. “It’s our season this upcoming Saturday.”